West Ottawa seniors celebrate their next steps in Decision Day Party

Sunday

May 18, 2014 at 5:00 PM

By Lisa.Ermak@hollandsentinel.com(616) 546-4219

With cheerleaders lining the halls, college mascots giving out high fives and the drum line playing, West Ottawa High School was in celebration mode on Thursday.The school held its first ever Senior Decision Day Party, and students filled the gym bleachers to hear the future plans of their classmates.The goal was to acknowledge everyone’s post-high school plans from “Ivy-league to stay-at-home mom,” West Ottawa’s college adviser Carolyn Mclean said.Students wrote on a piece of computer paper their future plans, and as Mclean read off every student’s name during the event, they were able to stand among their peers and hold up their sign.“Every student needs to be celebrated,” Mclean said.The push to create a college-going culture comes at a time when locally, 76 percent of students are completing high school and 45 percent are completing some sort of post-secondary option.That’s according to statistics compiled by Destination Education, a local collaborative focused on making completion of post-secondary education a reality for local students, particularly low-income, minority and first-generation college students.Director of Destination Education, Roberto Jara said decision day parties like the one at West Ottawa, as well as College Application Week and financial aid workshops are necessary to change that figure. He said 45 percent is no where close to what today’s workforce demands.“We need to be at least 60 percent and in a region like Holland, even in manufacturing, people need some sort of credentials, we need to be at 75 percent,” Jara said. “We need to move beyond the sense that high school graduation is the pinnacle of academic achievements. It’s not. At the very most, it’s a second-to-last step toward career preparation.”Giving kids get exposure to post-secondary education options is critical to changing that and having students publicly share their future plans, Mclean said, can really create an energy and excitement among students.That was the case for West Ottawa senior Darah Kok.“At first I didn’t want to go to college,” Kok said. But with the urging of some friends and teachers, he decided to look into it.“People started telling me (college) changes your life. I didn’t want to waste my life.”Kok plans to attend Grand Rapids Community College in the fall on a full ride scholarship.“It worked out,” he said, smiling.— Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelLisa.